Let's start today's post with a bit of a shout out. Conventionl Cognizance got its first comment yesterday from either Patrick or Melody over at He and She Reviews. Can't be more specific than that, since I don't actually know which one of them wrote it. Come to think of it... I don't actually know ethier of them, anyway. Which is great, by the way. It means that somewhere on the Inter-Webs out there, at least one person is reading Conventional Cognizance.
So a big thanks to Patrick or Melody (or both) for reading and commenting! And, apparently, those two crazy kids (I have to use the term loosely, as they're both older than I am) are to be wed sometime in the future - so congratulations to them on that!
If you've got some time, you might want to check out He and She Reviews. It's a nice little blog from what I've read so far, despite the lack of a review for Batman: Arkham Asylum (although, let's face it, any review for that game should read "Greatest game ever... can't keep reviewing... must play more Batman"). So go check it out, I know I will.
Okay, now that I've have my 'up' for the day, here comes the 'down.' I came across an article in the Sarasota Herald Tribune today. Check it out.
Done reading?
No?
I'll wait...
Okay then... are you kidding me?!
I've said this before to my friends, and I'll say it again here: Teachers' Unions are the worst thing to happen to America... EVER. PERIOD.
And that statement, ladies and gentlemen, is by no means a knee jerk reaction. I spent the last 2 years of my life working for the Sarasota County School Board as a teacher. As far as the classroom work is concerned, I loved absolutely every minute of it. I loved exciting the kids' imaginations; I loved when I drew them into a topic enough to get them asking questions and thirsting for more answers; I loved when parents felt the need to come and meet me because their kids just couldn't stop talking about what I taught them; I loved the calling.
That's what teaching is. A calling. Rather... that's what teaching should be. That's also why I got out of the teaching game.
I was surrounded day in and day out with other teachers (in many cases, I have to use the term very loosely) more concerned with how far their parking spaces were from their classes than the progress of special needs students. More concerned with how much of a financial bonus they could earn from AP testing than making sure their students truly understood the material. More concerned with getting that full half an hour for lunch or leaving right at the end of the paid duty day than giving the extra 15 minutes to a student who was struggling.
Too many teachers obsess over their contracts and want to run off to the union every twenty seconds. My own mother is one of those teachers. They care about the paycheck over the students, because "hey, they're not my children." First, if you became a teacher for the fabulous pay... you're an idiot. Second, they are your children. For a year of their life, you're going to have a great deal of influence on them. If you can't accept that, you need to get out of that profession, because you're hurting America.
And now I see that the union is willing to fight for the "rights" of a teacher who has abused what I consider to be a quasi-sacred trust?! Oh... did I mention that there's a chance the school district is going to pay for her legal costs?! Or that and other teacher in the county has a problem with this doesn't seem to be speaking up?! Who is protecting these children?!
I'm so disgusted by this chain of events that all I can is that this is why I'm done with the Sarasota County School Board. I spent two remarkable years with two equally remarkable sets of students who still contact me from time to time to let me know how they're doing. I made an impact on their lives. Hopefully, it was the positive impact I wanted to make. I don't want to risk becoming as jaded by the system. I don't want to forget why I did what I did. I don't want to become as much of a mockery and a humilation to the calling that these so-called 'teachers,' who hide behind their contracts and their all-powerful union, have become.
And that's all I have to say on the subject.
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wow thanks for mentioning us ^_^
ReplyDeletei must admit i didn't read the link, but again another well written post.
yeah i think a lot of teachers these days don't understand that you're not doing it for the pay (even there are a lot of government programs helping teachers with things like buying a house and retiring) you do it for the childern. word.
also we don't mention who reads and comments on other blogs, we find the mystery to be fun. ^_^